The CBI on Tuesday questioned Vikramaditya Singh, son of Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, in a case of alleged disproportionate assets.
The CBI sources said Mr. Vikramaditya appeared before the probe team on Tuesday morning and was questioned.
During his questioning in connection with the case earlier this month, Mr. Virbhadra had put the onus of explaining the assets of his wife and children on them, they claimed.
His son Mr. Vikramaditya had claimed during CBI’s preliminary inquiry that some of his assets were from money provided by his father, according to them.
The sources said the probe team has questioned Mr. Vikramaditya on the difference in the claims made by Mr. Virbhadra and him.
“CBI has a strong case against Virbhadra Singh, his associates and partners regarding the assets acquired in the name of his wife and children,” an agency official had said after the Chief Minister was questioned on June 9 and 10.
The agency had initiated an inquiry which had allegedly showed that Mr. Virbhadra, while serving as a Union Minister between 2009-2012 in the UPA government, had accumulated assets worth Rs. 6.03 crore (approx) in his name and in the name of his family members which were found to be disproportionate to his known sources of income, CBI has said.
The FIR filed in a designated court in Delhi under the Prevention of Corruption Act, named Mr. Virbhadra, his wife Pratibha Singh, LIC agent Anand Chauhan and owner of Universal Apple Associates Limited Chunni Lal Chauhan as accused.
The allegations have been strongly refuted by Mr. Virbhadra.
In a statement, a CBI spokesperson had alleged that Mr. Virbhadra had invested his unaccounted income in LIC policies, in his name and in the name of his wife and other family members through a private person by showing the same as agricultural income.
“This was done by creation of MoU purportedly dated June 15, 2008 for maintenance of an apple orchard, with the said private person (Chauhan) for a period of three years. The private person had allegedly deposited Rs. five crore cash (approx) in his own bank account and debited the same through cheques for purchasing various LIC policies in their names,” the CBI had said.
It had said Mr. Virbhadra allegedly attempted to legitimise the same as agricultural income by filing revised Income Tax Returns in 2012.
“The agricultural income as claimed by him in his revised ITRs was not found to be tenable. The then Union Minister had allegedly accumulated other assets disproportionate to known sources of income,” the CBI has alleged.
